Chicken broth

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PRESENTATION

Gastronomy boasts countless basic preparations, a true treasure that can be personalized based on seasonality, taste preferences, and needs. Think of fresh pasta, béchamel, or custard. Today we're going to the letter "B" in our personal recipe notebook, B as in boiled or chicken broth! Convenient to prepare when having children at home, for soups and risottos, or for traditional dishes like cappelletti and tortellini, or for ethnic recipes like jambalaya. An excellent substitute for meat broth and much richer than that of vegetables, also ideal to simply consume with homemade egg noodles. There's an Italian saying: "an old hen makes good broth" and we guarantee it's true. Try it to believe it!

INGREDIENTS
Ingredients for about 1 and 1/2 quarts of broth
Chicken 2.2 lbs (1 kg) - or hen
Water 8 ½ cups (2 l)
Celery 3 cups (80 g)
Carrots 4.2 oz (120 g)
Yellow onions 4.2 oz (120 g)
Garlic 2 cloves
Bay leaves 2 leaves
Parsley 1 tuft
Mixed ground pepper to taste
Fine salt to taste
Preparation

How to prepare Chicken broth

To prepare the chicken broth, start by removing any feathers left attached 1 and flame the rest 2 to completely remove them (you can use a torch or pass the chicken over a gas flame). Then rinse thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels 3, and set aside.

Now, dedicate yourself to cleaning the vegetables, so peel the carrots and cut them into pieces 4. Remove the ends from the celery ribs and cut them as well 5 and finally take care of the onion, peeling it and cutting it in half, then remove the central part 6.

To enhance the taste of the onion, place it in a non-stick pan 7 and let it toast over high heat for 4 minutes, turning it occasionally 8. At this point, you are ready for the cooking of the broth. In a large saucepan, pour the chicken, and add celery, carrot, and the toasted onion 9.

Also add parsley, garlic, and bay leaf 10 and the peppercorns 11 finally pour the water and cover with a lid, let it simmer for 50 minutes 12. It is preferable during cooking to skim the broth to remove impurities and excess fat.

The chicken broth, at this point, will be ready 13, adjust with salt and let it cool in the pot. At this point, you can set aside the meat and strain the vegetables 14 and filter the broth to use it in your preparations 15. If instead, you want to cook pasta, it will be enough to bring the broth to a boil and then cook it.

How to store

Chicken broth can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4-5 days in a resealable glass container or by covering it with cling film. If you wish, you can also freeze it (provided you have used fresh ingredients and not defrosted): prepare single servings to use as needed.

Tips

If you are using a free-range hen, it is likely that the cooking will need to be extended, as the meat will be much firmer. Use other vegetables to your liking to enhance its taste and aroma! The fat from the free-range hen might be excessive, skim it off or remove it with a strainer.

For the translation of some texts, artificial intelligence tools may have been used.